Organic Housekeeping - Part 1

This is the title of the book I chose for my Christmas gift from Hubby. Since we have done a fair job this year of eating well. Although, I have to admit that sometimes I have to catch my breath when I purchase organic green grapes! I have to say that purchasing a few more items from the organic food store has not entirely compromised my grocery budget. However, I digress.

The goal for 2008 and to take it to the next level and try to use less chemicals for cleaning in our home. So a more organic laundry detergent, good old Borax and lots and lots of vinegar. I was extremely please to be able to find an organic surface cleaner with orange oil and tea tree in it, that works just as good as my ammonia cleaner, so all is not lost.

Now, for those of you who know me this last paragraph is insanely hilarious because I am not the best housekeeper. My greatest pal in Whitby will laugh out loud because all I do is clean when I go to her house. I even have my own bottle of windex there! There is one pet peeve that I have, okay it borders on OCD. I cannot stand a spotty stainless steel tap. That's why is called stainless steel people! it is supposed to shine like a mirror. Where this compulsion came from I will never know, but I figure if that is all that is wrong with me than I can live with that. Okay moving on!

This goal for 2008 was put to heavy duty testing this weekend as Peanut proceeded to spike a fever and vomit like the scene in the exorcist all over our couch and carpet. It took two days but I am proud to say that I did not use any chemicals to clean everything up. Although it was tempting and I did go to the store and purchase one product that I know would have fixed everything up. I am proud to say that I will be able to return it and carry on my day with a eco friendly conscious.

Life would be easier if they just sold a product called Vomit Remover" or Puke Be Gone" don't you think?

How did I do it? you ask, well here is a brief run down.
STEP1 - Clean offending vomit with paper towels (okay not eco friendly and also not my job unless you want the puddle to get bigger.)

STEP 2 Saturate area with a mixture of water and vinegar about a table spoon to a litre or two of water. Give a little scrub.

STEP 3 - Soak up puddle with towel (preferrably old tattered towel not new Christmas towel, sometimes hubby does not understand these things)

Step 4 - Soak up more of puddle with towel (this time with old tattered towel and no yelling)

Step 5 - Let air dry over night.

Step 6 - sprinkle with baking soda let sit for a couple hours and vaccuum

VOILA! fixed!

Happy New Year!

Holidays, Toys - so much fun!

Okay, Okay, now that I realize more than one person is reading this thing I better keep up. As per my last post I was feeling really overwhelmed and out of time.

I managed to put in a few hours overtime at work and now don't feel so bad as I don't "owe" the company any time. Yahoo.

I managed to lose my Dad's Christmas present, and forgot my Nana and Pabob's present and my friends little guy's present. Duh!

Also I think I owe my brother and his girlfriend something because I only ended up with a game for them and it was not as fun as I thought it was going to be. I digress.

Christmas was total chaos! Such fun. I thought hubby was going to lose his mind, too many toys, too much stuff, he only went on a tirade once a day so it wasn't too bad.

Bugaloo got an expansion set for his wooden Thomas track and some new characters so he was in his glory and Peanut got an assortment of dolls and my pretty ponies and such so she was having fun figuring all that stuff out and loving on her dollies.

Lino and I got each other a few new books and I was able to surprise him with one of them. I got a new suit for work and some new jeans (thank the stars!) Lino got new socks (thanks the stars again!)

It was very nice because this year we had Christmas day all to ourselves and we didn't have to go anywhere or do anything with anybody we just got to hang and play with our stuff!.

I got a book about clearing the clutter and organic housekeeping ??? No I actually picked it out. As the new year approaches I want to talk a more active part in paying attention to what we use in our household. We are going to try to tighten up our budget and clean up and out our home so that we have less stress and chemicals etc. We did a great job this year with the foods that we eat. (Except some junk food) cookies and chips yumm.

So continuing on that we are going on to phase 2 Money and cleaning.

I'll keep you updated.

I need more time...

This will be the week from hell. As most of Ontario knows we had over 27 cms of snow. This caused our street and cul de sac to be completely snowed in.

We did not get plowed until after lunch. Couple that with a dr appt I had and no work for me today.

Add that to the no work tomorrow because we are taking Bugaloo to London tomorrow for botox injections and add that to hardly any work on Thursday because we have arthotics clinic and I will have a whopping NO TIME at work this week.

I will have to work either Saturday or Sunday just to get close to the 35 hours I need to put in this week.

Ahhhh! This is really starting to drive me crazy I will have to speak to my supervisor in January about reducing my hours it just causes me so much stress to know that I owe the company hours and have no vacation or banked hours to make up the time.

Hopefully I will still be able to get it together for Bugaloos birthday breakfast on Monday. He will be 4yrs old and is so adorable.

I love him and I love my peanut and my wonderful husband.

I still have 2 shopping errands to run before I am done for Christmas. Man!

Next topic sometime this week will be my ramblings on career planning. After the demise of the dream job and an interview with a recruiter last week I have a lot of thinking to do.

Happy holidays!

The Eye of the Hurricane!

They say the eye of a hurricane is really a calm serence place to be, a peaceful place to breath and give thanks for surviving before digging in for the fight for your life!

I believe this is where I am right now, today. Peanut managed to puke on me no less than 5 times last week and Bugaloo threw up on the drive way after his swimming lessons. As I said last blog it has been a flurry of Laundry and baths and showers over the past 10 days.

However, I do declare that we are over the worst of it. There has been no expulsion of any bodily fluids from an orface for the past two days, all cough and runny noses are at a minimum. I am proud to say that I think we are through the worst of it.

Bugaloo has started to pee on the toilet again (another post another time)and I can't say how happy we are that we are moving forward once again.

JUST IN TIME FOR CHRISTMAS..... duh duh duh.

So saturday will be a shopping extravagana with my sister, mother and nana it is alway truly entertaining...mostly for us, not really for anyone who has the misfortune for being around us, nor for the sales person serving us. 4 ladies (ha) with very bad toilet humor and a pengent for swearing in public (so tacky)

Work is spiralling out of control or maybe it's just me, but I feel overwhelmed and under utilized and have not job satisfaction and I work to far away from home. Monday I have a staff gripe meeting to attend and a supervisor who in my opinion is just that, oversees our work, approves time sheets but does not lead nor care to engage the staff towards a somewhat meaningful work experience.

So here I sit, in the Eye, thankful for survival and digging to go the second round.

Hang on.

Pukie McPuker

I hate barf! I hate my barf, I hate your barf I hate my kids barf! I hate barf. I hope you can sense how I feel about barf.

My little peanut has been sick since Tuesday Wednesday it started off as croup but has now turned into the full on flu. You know the kind of anything I put in my tummy comes flying out with the force of a jet engine 10 minutes later kind of flu. My heart just aches for her she is lying around like a limp noodle. My heart has not ached the count em. 5 times she has barfed all over me this weekend. Friday she yaked on me 2x before 7 am. That means I had my 3rd choice outfit on when I left for work.

All this puke is really stretching my parental capacity, i tell you.

Not much else except puke and laundry in this house today I'm afraid.

Well that and a heap of shovelling as it snowed, and snowed, and snowed and snowed last night, leaving us with about a foot and a bit of snow in the driveway today.

I'm goin gto have some tea now and see if I can relax a bit before she pukes on me again.

oy!

Cheque Please....School Stuff

First of all.. Bugaloo's cheque presentation was a huge success. Imagine if you will, our friend Big B, a former prison guard, 6ft 4, 270lbs holding an envelope and BugaLoo, standing on a chair, 3ft 5, 32 lbs, shaking this mans hand looks him straight in the eye and says..."Thank you very much Mr. Big B, the centre will like it very much". Some moments just melt my heart. It was so very kind of our friends to think of us and BugaLoo's child treatment centre for their group donation. I have been mulling over the idea for a bike event of some kind so I guess we will see how everything unfolds.

Which brings me to I am too friggin busy to plan an event this summer. Between keeping up with the ever changing therapy plan that is going on at my child's school and them not keeping me informed it's driving me crazy. Today I sent a long email to the vice principal hoping that I can get some of the processes figured out so I know who to address with certain problems. Honestly, sending a physically challenged kid to school shouldn't be this complicated or time consuming.

So between that and the ends volume of work at work life is stressful and not a fulfilling as I had hoped. My spvr was off yesterday and crapola hit the fan, which ended up with a meeting with our department and the VP, Awesome! I don't think it relieved any of the tension though?

I am off this morning because BugaLoo has a therapy session at 11:30 and it's almost 10 so I guess I should go get ready for the day. Since I jsut threw on jeans and a t-shirt to take him to school this morning.

Oh yeah did I mention I only had 2 hours of sleep last night due to peanut getting up with a fever, insomnia, and then BugaLoo up for 2 hours saying his tummy hurt and he couldn't sleep???

The good news is since Peanut had a fever we are not doing swimming tonight which means I can get into my pyjamas earlier tonight. Now that's something to look forward to !!!!!

Effort People

So I busted my Ass like a crazy woman last week and apparently that's what I need to do is work like a dog every single day and then I can mildly stay caught up. I feel like a zombie but I can almost feel like I am in control.

Do you catch the drift...Work Sucks right now. I'm hoping this crappy feeling will go away soon. Supervisor and VP have spoken about my "situation" (meltdown of last Friday when no one would mind their own business).

I think I am moving on to the rage part now though, because I am pissed off. I have been stating for 2-3 months now that I need help, could use some help and no one cared to listen so I guess you have to lose your fucking mind and cry for a day before anyone will take you seriously.

Now I am feeling like sitting duck and trying to collect my thoughts so that upper echelon does not hold all the cards.

On to funnier things...I have challenged Minivan Mom to write a hilarious (well I think it will be hilarous) post in the new year. You will know it when you see it.

On a cheerful and endearing note, our biker friends decided to make a donation on behalf of our bugaloo to the Rotary club that supports his child treatment centre. Everyone say awwwww with me. I love it when bikers get all soft inside. So tomorrow nite we will be off for the big cheque presentation. I think it is so thoughtful of them.

My thoughts and prayers tonight are with my dear friend who lost her mother to cancer this past weekend.

I am so very thankful for my family and our health as we head into the holiday season.

What am I going to do???

Well, the cat is out of the bag. I DID NOT get the dream job I have been hoping for for the past 4 weeks. I came in second to someone who had more experience in fundraising. So depressing.

The reason I was excited for this job was that it was closer to home (right now I have a 30 min atleast commute in traffic) and it was less hours, 26 compared to the 35 that I attempt to work right now. So what is my next move??? I really don't know.

Something has to give and I'm afraid it will be my sanity. I would consider going back to school but for what???

I think I will take a week or two to meditate on it! (drinking is meditation isn't it?)

I had a minor meltdown at work on Friday , because no one can mind their own business . So maybe I will be able to work something out. But I can't really take a pay cut and continue to drive out here for work.

But I had a super great weekend around the house I got to spend individual time with the kids as they decided upon alternating nap time. Meaning mom got exactly 10 mins to herself. Bugaloo decided to be a mess fairy and write with black marker all over the house. That took an hour to clean up. Peanut is teething with her eye teeth and doesn't want to eat anything, she just wants to stand there with her fingers in her mouth and scream.

In between all that I got the laundry done and get this....PUT AWAY!!!! Now I know most of you realize what a grand feat this is!

I also baked some cookies and got the grocery shopping done. It's great when I can channel my depression and disappointment into my house work.

Hope y'all are having a better day than me!

Blog Take 5

Well...Not until I logged on today did I realize that I have not posted for the past 8 days. Not to say I haven't developed over 5 blogs in my mind over the past week, but no one wants to go there, least of all me. I survived it once no nee to go back.

It was a relatively passive week in our household. Some minor meltdowns.

As you know I am interviewing for my dream job, however will have to take a significant cut in pay and I have been running the numbers and I am just not sure how that will all play out in the end. But hubby has been supportive and said just take the job and we will figure it out later. Now my pragmatic mind says. "LATER, LATER are you kidding me LATER when, like when we are using food stamps and the food bank to feed our kids.

I am supposed to be supporting and raising funds for the community programs and social needs not a major recipent of these programs.

But like my sister said, can I really afford NOT to take the job if I am offered. It is working for a cause I am so deeply committed to because it has become my life and every aspect of the job is a no brainer for me and it is LESS hours so I may have some time to spend with my 18 month only who barely knows I am her mother.

Bugalo (our son) had an appointment for his orthotics and we had to cast him for new ones since he has grown so much. Then I was informed that the price has increased approx 30% since his last pair last year which were a cool $2500. Yikes.

Now here in Canada we get a portion of that covered approx 75% so you say who cares! But I tell you $800 before Christmas on the eve of possibly taking a 40% paycut was enough to drive me into a minor depression, until we stopped for Tim Horton's donuts on the way home. (way to pinch those pennys)

Well so much more has happened this week so I will try to be diligent and keep you posted.

I have my 2nd interview today so hopefully I will have some good news to post.

Now I must go groom myself and become presentable.

Bloggity Blog Blog Blogger

mmmmm..... what to write tonight. I am humbly doing laundry.

Mainly because I am procrastinating doing the grocery shopping. After all I went to church, change two pee soaked set of clothes reloaded the car and went to the Rememberance Day ceremony at our local cenotaph, Thankfully mother-in-law took pity and assumed we needed lunch and had lunch ready for us. Came home started barage against laundry Wave 1. Cooked a wicked dinner so that we would have lunches for tomorrow and dinner for tomorrow as we have swimming lessons tomorrow and ZERO time for cooking. No I did not pause for a nap like someone else in my household who is older than 4. No I did not. I enforced barage against the laundry (pee soaked clothes) with Wave 2. Made a pie (duh I don't know why) and Rice Krispie Squares again I don't know why. (me thinks a monthly visitor is on its way!)

So as oldest child is busy finishing up an episode of Diego before bed. Here I sit at the computer taking a few minutes to ponder the procrastinating for life sustaining food....all under the pretenses of barage against the laundry Wave 3. Hopefully the last of it except towels and sheets of course.

It never truly ends does it???

I guess since I cooked like a maniac I am feeling no acute pressure to replenish the cabinets just yet!

Talk to me on Tuesday at 5pm when we have nothing to eat!

Why oh Why?

It's a dreary Friday so let's talk about the things that go on in the universe.

Why oh Why....

Is a fantastic day always followed by the flu, a headache and generally feeling crapola.

Why oh Why...

When I feel like said crapola do the people driving in front of me have to be making out like some kind of porn movie. Honestly... My new positive attitude said ahhhh isn't that so sweet. 7 traffic lights later, Get a fucking room already! jeez!

Why oh Why...

must bosses have emergencies at 4pm when I am trying to leave by 4:30pm

Why oh Why...
Can't massage therapist be available whilst I feel like shit. And she cannot be available for another 10 days oiy!

Why oh Why....
Can't back up massage therapist be available instead of being in big city taking spiritual enlightment course pshaw

Why oh Why....
Can't interview process for new job be over and said job be mine as we all know it will be!

Why oh Why!
Can't my work cafeteria serve a good salad and a decent wrap on the same day? Is it really that hard to use the good lettuce for each item.

I think half of the planet is feeling like crap so to everyone I hope you are feeling better soon!

Get lots of rest
Drink lots of fluids
Chicken noodle soup

Ciao

What a fantastic day!

So many beautiful things happening. The perfect job I have been lamenting about?? I have an interview today and I feel I will be a great fit. Here's hoping.

My hubby is finishing up his last block of school this week and killed an exam yesterday and has two more today. Although he was a little grumpy this morning I know he will do well and his overall mood will improve. I am so proud of him for sticking with this program for the past five years. He is almost there and he is doing great!

My dear friend ran in the NYC marathon this week-end and in his words "crushed it". And he is right. Last year he placed 17,000 out of 39,000. Yes thousands people.

This year 4,314! Can you believe that... CRUSHED IT! boo yah! I can't even begin to tell you how proud I am of this accomplishment for him.

So really I can only begin to wonder at all they other really cool and beautiful this that will be revealed to me this week!

I big shout out to my cyber mentor in Texas who got 99% on her social work paper. We all know she should have gotten 100%!

May everyone have the great feeling I have today!

28 Minutes

Yup! That's how long our Hallowe'en lasted. Including getting costumes on. It almost went down the tubes when Tino refused to put on his spider costume and declared he wanted to be a pumpkin.?? excusemewhat?!?!? So at 5:45 just before we began I gave him the choice of the spider or the lady bug for his sister and he chose the ladybug. Which wasn't bad as he has a red coat so the wings fit in with his color scheme anyway.

Gracie was as cute as a button as the spider, complete with 4 legs dragging on the ground behind her. She had the plastic pumpkin to gather her candy and that dragged on the ground behind her as well. At 6:13pm Tino declared, "I have enough treats now, we can go home." Gotta love a 4 year olds perspective.

Hubby and I giggled the whole 28 minutes it was great fun!

Pumpkins, Toilets and Therapists ..oh My!

Has it really been almost a week since my last post, Holy Shit! I guess I'm not such a good blogger after all. I vow to get better.

This weekend we had a hoot with 2 Halloween parties for kids and one for adults. What a great time. Our friends had their little boy on Hallowe'en so he is forever going to have a huge party on his birthday. Good thing we all love it so much!

We carved our pumpkins and my Tino was totally grossed out! He thought the goo was gross and kept asking to have his hands washed. Gracie loved it and kept digging in and making gagging noises like the pumpkin was barfing it's inside out and then giggling hysterically. Too funny. opposites I tell you.

As you know Tino has CP and I got a note home from school saying he was refusing to use the toilet. So up to the school I go on Monday and now I know why. So we did some experimenting and hopefully we have something that will work until the real equipment comes in. Or I can always teach him to go standing up. That may be the least traumatic for him.

Our therapist for Tino is off indefinately and no one can tell me when we are getting a new one. That bites. We saw the orthopedic doc yesterday and she is recommending botox again so we will need a therapist soon.

Still waiting to hear about my dream job. I can't believe that I wouldn't even get an interview. Unless they decided to hire from within. Ahhhh!

Gracie's growing like a weed and says great things like Oooo kkkkkk, and now way!

Lino has two more weeks left of school so next week is exam week and things should get pretty tense in our household. But it will be over soon.

Hope all is well for you.

The waiting game!

Ever wanted something so bad and just had to wait to find out. It's like buying a raffle ticket for a prize you really want and could actually use and would fit perfectly into your life...but different. It's like not finding out the sex of you baby and having to wait until you give birth. That how I feel about this job that I have applied for. I really really really want it, it would fit perfectly into my life right now and into the future. But I have to wait. I sent in my resume with a brilliant cover letter, and I followed up with an email to ensure it was received and to ask a question and received a reply and now I must wait to see if I get the call for the interview.

I am freaking out! I want this job so badly. I can see myself doing this job. It is working with the foundation of the Child Development and Rehabilitation Centre where my son goes for therapy, there would be public speaking involved (who can't talk for hours about their passion)donor relations and media communications (again the talking and writing thing)

Ahhh! I just can't wait.

Scraps, What the Hell, Apple Slinky

So after my massive scrapbooking weekend. I am totally exhausted. Happy that along with planning the event with 2 others I was able to sit for a bit and get a few things done. Everything went well, so thank for anyone who was thinking of me.

However getting home on Saturday nite was when the tough work began. I had messages from my youngest Aunt who is only 5 years older than me, my Mother, My brother, holy crap. So I started with my aunt because I hadn't heard from her in awhile. Before I go there I have to say that my hubby talked to my mother the night before so I had a bit of a clue what the phone call was going to be about. My 17 yr old cousin is PREGNANT Yikes! (R if you read this... it is all about me and my reaction and inability to deal with the news, not what is happening to you, I love you and you will have my support always).

So, me and auntie had a bit of a heart to heart and uncle, well he's still in shock. All the while my kids are going balistic in the background and hubby is slamming cupboards and banging around. Even though he told me it was okay to return the call. Doink.

To put this in selfish perspective, I should let you know. I am the first grandchild, However I was not the first grandchild to have a child....No when I was in my 20s my 15 year old cousin beat me to it twice! K if you read this I know you are laughing because we are so over that! But when I heard the news about R it took me back to that place and I was just mad.

I guess I get mad because I managed to make it through highschool and after and 1 marriage without getting pregnant! What the hell is wrong with these girls, have you not heard about condoms, pills, the Fucking rhythem method for shit sake. At least make an attempt will ya!

I feel better now! My favorite for the day. Little guy went to the apple orchard today and made an apple slinky for a snack. How cute would that have been. I wish I could have been there. But no I was at work!

later

TGIF - Next Week will be better

I am so glad this week is over. I have been working like a effing machine this week and I need to be done soon. As we know I have some commitments over the weekend but I am really looking forward to Saturday nite when I can sit down for a bit.

I'm excited for next week as I am hoping to hear about a possible new job. It would really be so great. I have been with the same company (different positions) for 12 years. We recently sold a division of our business (where I started) and I really miss my peeps and really feel out of place in this new dynamic.

I have never had a hard time with change. Which makes me this now is a good time for me to move on. Keep your fingers crossed.

Little guy had a dance-a-thon at school today I can hardly wait to hear about it.

Little gal is still not feeling well but atleast she slept through the night.

MinivanMom has an interesting post today on liberalism in Social Work. I'm still working on my feelings about it. Ha! probably mostly rage!

cheers

Whose pushing my buggy?

I am tired, so tired. With all of us being sick I am starting to run out of gas. The worst part is I have a heck of a busy weekend coming up and I'm not quite sure I'm going to make it through.

With two of my friends I am hosting a huge scrapbooking weekend and tomorrow night after I finish swimming lessons with the wee one. I have to load up the car and drive to the other end of town and start setting up for our weekend. The worst part is out of the 10 peeps I had coming I don't think ANYONE is going to be able to make it. Double sucky because I will be doing all this work for someone else.

Oh well, I will be teaching two card making classes and a border class so I am excited about that and then I plan on sleeping alot on Saturday night. But I'm sure hubby will have other plans because he will have been couped up with the kids for two nights at bed time. Ahhhhh!

So I saw a new book that I want to get about a Navy SEAL who was the lone survivor of his mission in Afganistan. Looks a little Holyier then Jesus, good old boy texan, with a little sheer American propoganda, (no offence texas friends!)But looks like a tear jerker and neato story. I think it comes out sometime next week.

Anyway I had better go I am supposed to be preparing my inventory list of supplies I'm bringing so all our stuff doesn't get mixed up.

Take care everyone.

Sick of sneezes

So I thought that my allergies were bothering me? Turns out I have a cold. It started with hubby and now poor little guy has it. He has been off school for two days, up 2-3 times a night and life is generally one kleenex at a time at our house.

I don't think I have been ontime for work once in the last 10 days or so and I keep leaving early because I need the extra time for doctors appts and to cook some good god damn food for us so that we can get better.

Needless to say life is a little chaotic right now.

Hope everyone else is doing better.

Chick Peas and Chocolate Chips

It's official! My husband thinks I have taken things to far. On Monday, Thanksgiving I was watching Oprah (come on everyone does it)and Jessica Seinfeld was on to peddle her new book Deceptively Delicious, how to hide veggie purees in your food so you not harrassing your kids during meals. As part of the goodies she brought on was chocolate chip cookies that have chick peas in them.

Now understand me when I say. I HATE chick peas. I have a girlfriend, sweet M, who will eat them whole, cold just for something to have for lunch. I want to barf everytime this happens. I think she does it on purpose just so she will have a giggle for the day. I digress.

So loing story short. I found the book (which is quite good, another post) and I made the friggin cookies. They are DELICIOUS! I love them!!! Even hubby says they are okay. He is choc chip expert and prefers his cookies more crunchy and dry.

Needless, it was a blast to bring some into work today and try to keep the secret of the ingredients until people finished the cookies. I did not have anyone throw the cookie away. Gave us a good distraction from work so overall mission accomplished.

After that the day went to hell. Work got more complicated. My son misbehaved for his entire physiotherapy session which his therapist stretched into almost two hours because he was being such a pain. When I finally got home exhausted. I hit the wall and gave into the realization that I can deny no longer.

I have the sinus cold my hubby had over the weekend. Yippee! I feel like crap and had to call him home from school to take our youngest to swimming lessons.

That's life and for the most part I'm loving it!

Blogging who'd of thunk it!

I can't believe I'm doing this. Really... Isn't it just part of evolution? People wanting to express their thoughts and opinions to other people. That's what we used to have dinner parties for. Now with an active family and no time for dinner parties, it has come to this... a place to ruminate and express the random thoughts that pass through my mind.

Several of my friends and cyber buddies have taken to this medium of expression and I find them quite charming and amusing. So I hope that in my hour of needing to express myself about the haphazards of this my so called life you too will find some amusement and perhaps a chuckle or two, at my expense, of course.

Why Pushing the Buggy? Well, that what I feel like I'm doing these days, Pushing the baby buggy, pushing the grocery buggy, riding the buggy(car), lifting the baby with the buggy whips (arms), the kids are driving me buggy...It's all about the buggy these days.